# Nebraska joins states suing proxy advisor ISS over alleged investor deception  
**Published:** 2026-05-20T15:42:48.000Z  
**Source:** [Nebraska Attorney General](https://ago.nebraska.gov/news/nebraska-attorney-general-sues-iss-misleading-investors-and-pushing-esg-agenda)  
**AI-generated:** yes (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001)  
**Canonical:** https://lincolne.news/article/nebraska-joins-states-suing-proxy-advisor-iss-over-alleged-investor-deception

LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska joined several states in filing a lawsuit against Institutional Shareholder Services Inc., accusing the world's largest proxy advisor firm of misleading investors by promising objective advice while secretly promoting an environmental, social and governance agenda, according to [an announcement from Attorney General Mike Hilgers](https://ago.nebraska.gov/news/nebraska-attorney-general-sues-iss-misleading-investors-and-pushing-esg-agenda).

The lawsuit alleges that [West Virginia, Iowa and Texas filed suit alongside Nebraska on Wednesday](https://wchstv.com/news/local/wva-attorney-general-files-suit-against-proxy-advisor-firm-alleging-investors-misled), following [Florida's November 2025 lawsuit against ISS and Glass Lewis](https://www.myfloridalegal.com/newsrelease/attorney-general-james-uthmeier-sues-proxy-advisory-giants-deceiving-investors-and). "ISS sold Nebraska investors on the promise of objective, independent research. What they were actually getting was advocacy—coordinated with ESG activist organizations, untested against any financial standard, and driven by an ideological agenda that ISS never disclosed," Hilgers said in a statement.

According to the lawsuit, ISS secretly coordinated with activist groups including Climate Action 100+, Ceres, and The Children's Investment Fund to shape recommendations without disclosing this influence to clients. The company allegedly incorporated ESG mandates into its primary benchmark advice while offering ESG-focused products separately, misleading clients seeking neutral recommendations. The lawsuit claims ISS adopted broad ESG policies without analyzing their financial impact on shareholder value or company performance.

The suit also charges that from 2022 to early 2025, ISS recommended voting against board members based on race and ethnicity—a practice the lawsuit describes as illegal and undisclosed to clients. ISS discontinued this policy following a 2025 executive order. Additionally, Nebraska alleges the firm ran a consulting business selling ESG services to companies it rated, creating undisclosed conflicts of interest.

The lawsuit noted that ISS opposed leaders focused on financial analysis over ideology, citing Warren Buffett as an example of someone it disfavored for a director position at Berkshire Hathaway. [The Multistate Proxy Advisor Coalition now includes 16 states](https://20.6/), with coordination efforts aimed at addressing what officials describe as widespread harm from ISS's practices. The litigation comes as [proxy advisory firms face intensifying regulatory and legal pressure](https://www.akingump.com/en/insights/articles/key-issues-for-companies-and-activist-investors-heading-into-the-2026-proxy-season) nationwide.

## Sources

- [Nebraska Attorney General](https://ago.nebraska.gov/news/nebraska-attorney-general-sues-iss-misleading-investors-and-pushing-esg-agenda)
- [West Virginia, Iowa, and Texas filed suit alongside Nebraska](https://wchstv.com/news/local/wva-attorney-general-files-suit-against-proxy-advisor-firm-alleging-investors-misled)
- [Florida's November 2025 lawsuit against ISS and Glass Lewis](https://www.myfloridalegal.com/newsrelease/attorney-general-james-uthmeier-sues-proxy-advisory-giants-deceiving-investors-and)
- [Multistate Proxy Advisor Coalition member states](https://dailycaller.com/2026/05/20/nebraska-florida-dei-esg-proxy-firms-duopoly/)
- [Proxy advisor firms facing intensifying regulatory and legal pressure](https://www.akingump.com/en/insights/articles/key-issues-for-companies-and-activist-investors-heading-into-the-2026-proxy-season)

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This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from Nebraska Attorney General, enriched with 3 web searches. The original source is available at https://ago.nebraska.gov/news/nebraska-attorney-general-sues-iss-misleading-investors-and-pushing-esg-agenda.